Canterlot was considered a peaceful city. They say it was the most in all of Equestria, but I never could bring myself to believe such a harmless lie. On the surface, the city was home to royal families whose various members held power in the Royal Court. Ponies relaxed and lavished in the calm and soothing rays of the sun, walking with friends and making small banter with said friends on the way to the major hubs of stores or gardens. The royalty would flash their latest articles of fashion, as unnecessary and narcissistic it was, while others would speak in hushed words about their envy of someone’s latest civvies and the less wealthy inhabitants of Canterlot scratched their heads as to why rich ponies bothered putting clothes on anytime besides winter.
Underneath it all, Canterlot was just as fierce as Griffonstone. She had her fair share of murders and crimes. The only difference Canterlot held from the other major Equestrian cities is that she was better at hiding her problems. The Royal Guard cleaned up scenes as quickly as they had discovered them and news of crimes were heavily suppressed to fake the illusion of a perfect world, as was the case with Equestria as a whole.
That was something we had all been taught from a young age; Equestria was a paradise. The idea of a paradise was heavily enforced in many generations. The Historians were right for the most part. Ever since Equestria formed, there were virtually no wars fought in our borders and there was a peaceful reign for almost a thousand years after The Divine Sisters had come into our society. But the one thing Equestria had never embraced, was perfection and its total impossibility.
Other nations of the world never boldly proclaimed themselves to be the greatest and most peaceful land to ever exist as much as Equestria had. Griffonstone’s history was fraught with conflicts and wars, but the griffons never shied away from expressing that as a part of their culture, Dragons were naturally brutal and they never embraced peace as an ideology, The Stags of the Everfree hated ponies enough to cause a war that lasted no more than five minutes and have retained a hatred towards all of ponykind ever since. The Crystal Empire had only recently started shedding blood to quell the uproaring and unhappy populace.
But those are stories for another day. I’d never seen these acts of brutality personally, nor did I ever wish to. My new one began three days ago and went by like a flash. I could barely believe how fast everything had come at me.
Normally, I spent most of my time aiding my fellow historians and researchers in creating what we had dubbed simply as ‘The Encyclopedia’. Like all books of its nature, we had gathered resources from all corners of the known world and spent countless hours and sleepless nights trying to compile all the information into one sizable text. We had divided ourselves to cover the most ground, splitting into groups of two or three. I had the fortune of being paired with the brilliant mind that was Twilight Sparkle.
On that day, however, I decided to take a break, allowing myself some time alone in the city. I brought no money with me, I had no real destination, I just followed the flow of the city. It was when I had stopped to take a seat in the Royal Gardens that I was met with a letter manifesting before me, bearing Celestia’s wax seal; a sun with rays beaming from all directions.
I was called to the Royal Court, though the vague letter explained no more. When I got to the palace, I found myself staring down the central corridor to the throne room, trembling with a mix of fear and excitement. The grand halls leading up to the magnificent room giving me time to breathe and collect my thoughts. There was usually a briefing from one of the advisers, usually Autumn following me, readying me for my meeting with the most powerful pony in Equestria. But there was no one. Just me and the guards who stood by every door and the ones who stood guard in the center of the halls, spears pointing up and eyes facing forward like they were engaged in an eternal staring contest.
A soft velveteen carpet stretched down the length of the corridor, crimson and embroidered with golden edges. My hooves relaxed with each step, gently planting themselves on the silky surface. My bags bounced lightly at my sides with the rattling of pens and juggling of ink containers roaring through the silent hall. Under normal circumstances, I would have relished the noise, but here, it made my ears twitch uncomfortably. A mixed aroma of flowers and perfume swept through the hall, a scent that I was far too familiar with. But there was something different in the air. A coarse metallic smell, not unlike that of the Royal Guard, but still foreign.
I passed by stained glass windows, each depicting a pivotal event in Equestrian history. On my off-time, I loved this hallway. There were so many emotions that text could not convey properly. The rise of the royal families made up of all unicorns and the horrors peasants endured under their rule; famine, poverty, civil unrest. An uprising that tore families apart and threw away the leading royalty. The conflict of the three various tribes and their imminent unity under one banner, bringing upon a new age of pure hope.
I remember being taught lessons on these pivotal points in Equestrian history. Lords and Ladies had all seen Equestria as their land. When the tribes united there was a matter of who would settle where in the world. Would pegasi dominate the north, unicorns the central regions and earth ponies the south? Who would truly rule the Equestrian people? Could there truly be an age of peace and prosperity? In the end, it was the first question ponies themselves had actually answered and agreed upon.
Before the great double doors leading to the throne room, The Royal Court, as it was so aptly named by the local flavor, there was the last image. The Arrival, as it were, of the Divine Sisters. Two tall figures descending from the heavens and the ponies bowing their heads and kneeling before the self proclaimed rulers of the land. There was no opposition. It just happened and everyone accepted it. The one thing most historians agreed upon was there was no opposition.
Except for me.
I looked at the two guards stationed beside the doors leading to Celestia’s throne.
“I was summoned to Most Holy’s presence,” I said, levitating the letter with her seal. The guards both grunted, stepped aside and opened the doors with their magic, all the while focusing their gaze on me. I tried my best to ignore, but I imagined the things they would say about me once those doors closed.
I was greeted by a room full of solid colors beaming in from the left side; the sun’s light shining through the stained glass windows that depicted pieces of history yet to come. Who had made those is still unknown, but whoever had foreseen those prophecies had clear signs of a doomed future. Discord had come and gone, Changelings made their presence known to everyone, a group of Crystal Ponies began cult calling for some kind of nameless king to return. Everything had come true so far. It was the last images that nobody spoke of: an Equestria bathed in fire and destruction, but that was a long way off.
Turning away from the cryptic images, I looked at the other inhabitants in the room. An earth pony here, a unicorn there. But there was one figure that caught my eye. It was a griffon, or some kind of permutation of one. The front half of its form was that of an owl rather than an eagle. The feathers on its body were smooth, the wings recently preened, with a gradient of hazel to silver. What confused me was the beasts rear, which had taken the form of a pony. Claws on the front end, but hooves on the rear. Of all the research conducted, neither Twilight nor I had read about a griffon of this type.
Equestria was accustomed to Royal Griffons; the typical eagle and lion hybrids whose lust for gold was comparable to that of a dragon, although not all shared this lust. Snow Griffons were reclusive and had no lust for materialistic things, but rather a lust for knowledge. They took to more of an owl appearance mixed with a mountain cat of some sort, but their feathers and fur were almost always pure white unlike the strange griffon standing before me. I mulled over the different Griffons Twilight and I read about; Sea Griffons, Desert Striders, Foresters. None of our research mentioned anything with the rear end of a pony.
I fixed my sights on the regal alicorn sitting on her golden throne. Her tall form was relaxed but there was a form of intensity in her stance; the way her back straightened and held her chest out. She smiled at the sight of me, though whether it was out of genuine respect for me or of pity I could not say.
“Your grace,” I whispered, bowing my head. My heart stopped for a moment, realizing she had not heard me. I cleared my throat and repeated louder; “Your grace.”
“Trixie,” Celestia greeted. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’d rather begin when all parties are in the room. Though they should have been here already.”
I nodded, although I had no real understanding of what was happening.
Clopping hooves came from behind and several more ponies came running in, some panting and sweating. Noteworthy, Amethyst, Bluebell, the list went on. The ponies I had worked with on The Encyclopedia were gathered here. Not all, but less than half of the team was here. Twilight was among the twenty pony crowd, among other scholars I had recognized.
“Hey.” Twilight made her way beside me. “Any idea what’s going on?”
“Not a clue,” I admitted. I pointed a hoof at the unknown guest. “My guess is whoever that is has something to do with it.”
The not-a-griffon looked in my direction and I dropped my hoof like a child caught stealing candy. I looked back at Twilight, quizzically staring at the creature.
“That’s not a griffon,” She observed. “Is it?”
Can’t be, I wanted to answer. Princess Celestia clopped a hoof on the ground, garnering everyone’s attention. The team all lined up next to each other and in perfect unison, bowed their heads and gently spoke “Your Grace.”
All rose their heads and we all stared at the Princess. Well, almost all of us.
“These are your Rekishiya?” The griffon-pony hybrid spoke slowly. I cringed slightly at his pronunciation of words some words. The way he stressed certain syllables and vowels as opposed to others. “Uh….Historians?”
“Historians, scholars,” Celestia spoke in a gentle voice. “These ponies are the best at what they do.”
“I see.” He looked over all of us lined up analyzing all of us with those strange golden eyes. “My Equestrian is… warui. Would you mind...explain?”
“Of course.” Celestia stood from her throne, her immense size dwarfing all who stood beside her. She stepped gracefully down the porcelain steps leading to her throne. “You each have shown an admiration for compiling the knowledge of the world; spending countless hours and sleepless nights researching and recording your findings. Some of you have even been to the darkest corners of the known world just to gain insight.
“The work you do preserves knowledge of all things. It is, to say the least, a noble goal that you are all working towards.” Celestia smiled at Twilight and I, a smile that slowly faded as she looked upon the rest of us scholars. “I am most pleased with the progress you have all made, but that’s besides the point. This is Nijo. He is a Hippogriff from Cystera.”
The way Celestia explained that made me feel like a foal in a classroom. I looked at Twilight, but she was busy staring at this Hippogriff, no doubt compiling a list of questions she would ask him once the Princess was finished with her speech. I must admit that I had been doing the same ever since I first saw him.
“You all have been selected to enter the Hippogriff homeland,” Celestia continued. She paused, I assume to let that tiny fact sink in a little with us. I looked at Twilight. She seemed unsure whether or not she should be excited or scared. Her face shifted and she bit her lower lip. I could tell she wanted to say something in protest, but she held her tongue.
I did the same.
“I understand what it is that I ask of each of you. So I give you the choice to leave now if you do not wish to partake in this journey. I understand that you work in twos? I think it would be best to decide with your partners what you should do.”
Nobody moved, either out of fear or because they had genuinely wished to be a part of this monumental moment. Maybe it was a mix of both. I found myself staring at Twilight, clinging to this false sense of hope that for once she would back down from seeking the answers to questions she did not need the answers to. She never even looked at me. That was typical Twilight.
I loved Twilight like a sister. She had been there for me when I enrolled in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, pretty much helping me cheat my way into the school. She guided me through most of my classes and helped turn me into the tenacious worker that I am today. I had never seen or sensed anger or frustration whenever my personality got the better of me or whenever I had failed something. Twilight was the pony I desperately wanted to be. Kind, modest. By Luna, the list goes on.
In the end, four ponies left us and Twilight had stayed, looking at me with a smile. “Glad you decided to stay.”
“We’re a team, are we not?” I put on a faux smile. “Besides, I can’t have you bore the Hippogriffs while we stay….wherever we’d be staying.
“Thanks, Trixie.” Twilight nuzzled my mane. I felt my muscles relax when she did, even when she pulled away. “We’ll take ‘em by storm.”
“Right,” I tried to fake my enthusiasm as best I could. Twilight seemed to not notice though. She reverted back to Princess Celestia.
“I thank you for your courage.” Celestia bowed her head to the ponies who had stayed. “Now, a little history lesson, if you will...”
Cystera
Cystera is an island nation located in the seas to the southeast of Griffonstone. The country is divided into several regions, each ruled by a military leader, who in turn, answered to a higher ranking military general that answered to the emperor of the land. Although within close proximity to Griffonstone, a vast majority of Cystera's inhabitants are in fact Hippogriffs and not Griffons. Military might and...
Present
I lay silently on the rough surface of my blanket, sinking into the modest bed, reading what I had written so far. There was hardly any good information to go on based on what Celestia said. I wanted to get started on my entry for The Encyclopedia, but without any real knowledge, I was going nowhere fast. Most of the entry was a guess from the sparse information Princess Celestia had of the land. Nijo had barely made an attempt to clear up that information. How could he? The man could barely even speak proper Equestrian.
Tomorrow was the start of our journey. We would take a boat and sail for most likely two weeks before we arrived at Cystera's shores. I found myself staring at the clock hanging directly overhead wishing the hands would move back rather than forward. I could not decide what I wished to see once we arrived. Would there be a prospering united land of these strange bird-pony hybrids? Would we arrive at a war-torn land that promised honor and tradition while its populace held a dagger at our throats? Was the earth fertile, blooming with flowers and trees or was it much like Griffonstone; barren and worthless?
I dropped the parchment and let it fall, drifting onto the floor with no intention of picking it up. I do not know what I should have believed. I wanted a peaceful land and no conflict. Maybe there was no war in this place. Either way, I had made my choice along with Twilight. We would go and be welcomed by another ambassador, this time from one of Cystera's many clans. Asteria if memory serves well. A respected family. Loyal.
I let my fears overwhelm me while I lay in in the silence of my private quarters.
My bedroom was in the Mythic Glow residential quarters inside the Royal Palace. It was a room very similar to the room I had grown up in as a filly. My bed sat neatly in the corner of the claustrophobic space with sheets, blankets and pillows that smelled of apple cinnamon and were spotless of stains and any wrinkles. I made it my mission to be able to fit my bed beside the small window which was always left open. It was strange, but I imagined the moon had given off rays of warmth during my short bursts of sleep and if that were untrue, I liked to imagine the light rays of Luna’s divine brilliance was actually the alicorn of the night herself hugging my face and helping me fall asleep or just Luna blissfully smiling, watching like a mother watches her foals drift off into the land of sleep.
Shelves were mounted on the wall, each full of various books on various subjects. A good seventy-five percent of those books had been gifted to me from Twilight on birthdays and Hearth’s Warming. Naturally, a good book demanded to be read and Twilight had assured me that the books she had gotten me were always good books and she knew as much from experiencing them before I could. I did not mind that my books were essentially hand-me-downs from my best friend, but it would have been nice to know that I was the first one to open those books.
A tiny space meant to be a closet ended up being a place where I tossed anything that had no place on my shelves or in my drawers. Aging leather bags and various articles of clothing that had been gifted to me from other friends found their place there. Books I never wanted to see again and memorabilia that held no special place in my heart were strewn and thrown on its floors, tucked away to never be seen again.
A small bureau had been stuffed directly across from the bed, most of the drawers containing pens, notebooks, ink containers and other amenities that aided in my work. On the surface, I planted a grand mirror so I had something decent to look at while I had nothing better to do. The dresser itself gave me a small isle of walking space in my room, but it was something I had grown accustomed to. It rested close enough to my cushioned bed so it could double as a desk. I used the surface of the dresser for everything. It gave me a place to write my journal entries and entries for The Encyclopedia. It gave me a place to cry when nights were rough and Twilight was away. It gave me a place to reflect and beat myself up for mistakes that could have easily been avoided.
But most importantly, the second drawer on the left held something near and dear to me.
I shifted myself to the edge of my bed and opened the drawer, pulling out the black and white ‘magic’ wand and violet star covered magicians hat. I lay on my back and clutched the items in my chest with my hooves. A sigh released itself from my lungs and I buried my face in the hat.
“Mother, what am I to do?” I ask, half expecting an answer and half knowing nobody would say anything. “I don’t know a single thing about...Hippogriffs. What if I end up making a fool of myself and end up embarrassing Twilight? What if we don't come back?”
I let out a groan. “Mother, what would you do?”
I was a historian by nature. Sure, I had travelled to Griffonstone and The Crystal Empire, but there was some kind of familiarity to the land. I had never heard of Cystera nor had I ever seen or considered the possibility of Hippogriffs in the world. I suppose it would be like travelling back in time to feudal Equestria. If what Celestia had said was true, then we would have nothing to fear other than the wildlife, but even then, the Hippogriffs respected guests as if they were family and would be ready to put their lives on the line to defend us.
It made me feel better that Twilight and I would even be getting our own personal escorts. Twilight’s escort was a pale magenta unicorn who went by the name Sparkler. Twilight had the pleasure of meeting her immediately after our meeting with Celestia, but my own escort had come earlier tonight, about nine hours before we were supposed to depart for Cystera.
A knock came on the door forcing me to get up from my nightly daydreams and look at the clock on my wall briefly before heading towards the door.
Upon opening, I was greeted by a slender aquamarine unicorn clad in grand golden armor. She scanned down at my hooves and made her way up to meet my eyes, smiling. I considered shutting the door on this pony, mistaking her for a drunk. She noticed my horn glow and my door begin to creak.
“You’re Trixie,” She stated simply. “Right?”
“Is there a reason one of Celestia’s guards is searching for me—” I glanced back at the clock in my room. “Ten o’clock at night? Shouldn’t you be a uh...bat pony or something?”
“Well...Yeah?” She shrugged. I rolled my eyes and started closing the door, but the mare stopped it with her hoof. “Please, ma’am, I just wanted to introduce myself early before tomorrow's departure.”
“Oh.” I say, releasing my arcane grip from the door. “I would have appreciated it if you came earlier. By that, I mean a day or two ago.”
“I’m sorry for being late on this,” The mare apologized. “But I’m Lyra. I had heard a lot about you. Very respectable pony.”
“I hope you don’t mind Lyra,” I put on a small smile. “But I’d much rather get to know each other over the boat ride. Right now, I need sleep. And so do you.”
“R-right.” Lyra sputtered. She held a hoof beside her horn, straightening her back and holding her chest out. “Goodnight ma’am.”
And with that she had left and I returned to my bed, resting for the next two hours before coming to my current position.
I hugged the hat and wand, pressing my muzzle against the fabric of Mother’s old hat. My heart began to slow down and my muscles relaxed, allowing me to sink into the squishy bed and making the wool blanket’s fabric dig underneath my fur and poke on my skin. I closed my eyes and pictured my mother smiling at me. Her deep magenta eyes filled me with a warmth I was almost unfamiliar with. My hooves carried my tiny frame across dew covered grass embracing the wind coursing through my fur and mane.
Mother let me into her hooves and I buried my head into the fluff of her lavender chest. She smelled of lilies and roses. Her curly mane twisted and brushed against the tip of my ears. I did not mind. I longed for this moment many times in my life. Mother was everything. She taught me a lot of what I know.
“Mother,” I whispered, the last words I had spoken that night. “Please guide me through this.”